Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations

Reference

Parliamentary Committees Act 2003REFERRAL OF TERMS OF REFERENCE TO THEFAMILY AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEEOrder in Council

The Governor in Council, under section 33(1)(b) of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003, an order be made that the Family and Community Development Committee inquire into, consider and report to the Parliament on the processes by which religious and other non-government organisations respond to the criminal abuse of children by personnel within their organisations.

The Terms of Reference for this Inquiry are contained in the attached Schedule.

This Order is effective from the date it is published in the Government Gazette.

The Family and Community Development Committee is requested to inquire into, consider and report to the Parliament on the processes by which religious and other non-government organisations respond to the criminal abuse of children by personnel within their organisations, including:

the practices, policies and protocols in such organisations for the handling of allegations of criminal abuse of children, including measures put in place by various organisations in response to concerns about such abuse within the organisation or the potential for such abuse to occur;

whether there are systemic practices in such organisations that operate to preclude or discourage the reporting of suspected criminal abuse of children to State authorities; and

whether changes to law or to practices, policies and protocols in such organisations are required to help prevent criminal abuse of children by personnel in such organisations and to deal with allegations of such abuse.

In undertaking the inquiry, the Committee should be mindful of not encroaching upon the responsibilities of investigatory agencies or the courts in relation to particular cases or prejudicing the conduct or outcome of investigations or court proceedings.

The Committee is requested to report to the Parliament no later than 30 April 2013.

The deadline for reporting was subsequently extended to 30 September 2013.An additional extension was granted until 15 November 2013.